Guests at fundraiser honouring Aglukkaq get funding from her department

Conservative MP Leona Aglukkaq, the minister of economic development for the North, attended a fundraiser in her honour Tuesday evening where guests included the very people who receive funding from her department.

After Aglukkaq learned that CTV News had staked out the fundraiser at an upscale Ottawa hotel, she entered through a shopping mall entrance rather than the hotel’s front doors.

Guests donated $100 to attend the event with Aglukkaq, who is also the environment minister, and will get a $50 tax break.

One of the special guests was Nellie Cournoyea, the former premier of the Northwest Territories and now the chair of Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, which received more than $200,000 in funding from Aglukkaq’s department last year.

Under federal government conflict of interest rules, cabinet ministers should not “solicit or accept funds from a person or organization who has lobbied or is likely to lobby the public office holders or their office, department or committee.”

The rules also say ministers must avoid “situations where issues of preferential treatment or other conflicts of interest could arise.”